Super Typhoon Yolanda

My heart aches with grief as news of the Super Typhoon Yolanda overwhelm us with shocking images of devastation – towns with nothing but rubbles and ruins… infrastructures wrecked beyond repair… dead bodies lying cold in the streets… fathers, mothers, and siblings mourning the loss of one or all of their loved ones… survivors of the storm now clueless on surviving the next couple of days.

With this great damage that has beset our country by the “strongest storm ever known to make landfall and the fourth strongest storm ever recorded in the world” according to Weather Underground co-founder Dr. Jeff Masters, this is not the time to blame anybody. This is the time to CONNECT –

To one’s self. My beloved Filipinos who were gravely affected by this storm, this might have been your toughest battle yet. But I urge you, get back up again. Fight on. Despite the seeming helplessness and hopelessness surrounding you, this battle can be won. For we are a people in whose veins run the blood of heroes. We are fighters. We are victors. And as we have done so many times before, I know that you WILL win this fight. Just don’t give up.

To others. Now to us who were unscathed by Super Typhoon Yolanda, let us not only link our hearts in sympathizing with them. Let us link our hands in service to them. Yes, Filipinos are fighters. Our kababayans in Visayas will surely come out of this storm strong. But they need help… our help. Let us not fail them. Let us join them in this fight. Let us win this fight together.

To God. Brothers and sisters, may we not forget that while staying strong and helping one another are important, these could only do so much. This storm is far beyond sheer human strength. WE NEED GOD. With one voice, as a nation, let us cry out to Him. For He is the God who hears AND answers. He will surely come to our aid and lift us out of this situation.

The whole Philippines – even the world – is in great mourning. We have barely escaped an earthquake. We are not even recovering. And then this storm hit us. We are broken, even crushed. But one thing we know: More than any of us, the God of love – the God who IS love – cries the loudest. Seeing us in such a devastated situation as this, His heart bleeds for us. He could never delight seeing us in shambles. Because two thousand years ago, that same God bled on the Cross for each of us. To save us. Will He not save us now?